Colombo ‘Provoked’

Former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai starring the role of a battered wife pushed to the ultimate act of defiance, 'Provoked' now screens at the Savoy Cinema-2. Inspired by the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, director Jag Mundhra's docudrama narrates the tale of a London-based Punjabi woman played by Aishwarya Rai, as a nineteen year old girl living in a small Punjab village with her overbearing sisters and their husbands, aspiring to get a college education and see the world.

Despite her ambitious plans, however, Kiranjit puts her entire future on hold the moment she meets handsome family friend Deepak (Naveen Andrews). Later, after a whirlwind romance, Kiranjit and Deepak marry and prepare to move into Deepak's home in a quaint suburb of London.

Kiranjit's storybook romance would quickly give way to a terrifying reality however when, over the course of the following decade, the loving bride suffers a relentless torrent of emotional and physical abuse of her tyrannical husband. Eventually pushed to her breaking point and desperately fearing for the safety of her children, Kiranjit kills Deepak and subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Though Kiranjit is at first reluctant to share the details of her harrowing experience, she eventually becomes convinced that the only way to break the cycle of violence is to share her story with the world. The film co-stars Miranda Richardson, Rebecca Pidgeon and Robbie Coltrane.